Guwahati: About 200 women came out onto the streets of Guwahati on Thursday, joining thousands of women across India in marching to voice their concern with the ‘current atmosphere of hate and violence that prevail in the country’.
“The women are marching to protest against the injustice and to ask for change. We, the women from Assam, join the women’s march for change, in solidarity and with our own concerns,” a statement said here.
Nearly 200 women from different walks of life came together for the ‘Guwahati Gathering: Women’s March for Change’ in the heart of the city to display their solidarity for the cause.
Noting the specific problems of women in Assam, the gathering alleged systemic violations of women’s rights through unconstitutional processes like eviction, NRC and detention camps.
The case of Kulsuma Begum, who was eight months pregnant when she was allegedly assaulted during an eviction in Hojai district, was highlighted in the meet.
The woman died after giving birth at a hospital here later.
“Kulsuma is only one of the thousands of people who have been evicted without proper notice, rehabilitation and compensations. These kinds of eviction processes are unconstitutional and violate the UN Declaration of Human Rights to which India is a signatory,” the meeting claimed.
The gathering also underlined that more than 2.09 million women, mostly from Bengali-speaking Muslim community, were excluded from the National Register of Citizenship draft.
The statement said, “These women face double discriminations for being Bengali Muslim and for her gender. Women who are considered outsiders in her parental as well as husband’s home, found themselves excluded from the complex process of legacy data verification and required documents.”
The plight of women in detention camps in the state, separated from their young children, was also highlighted by the gathering. (UNI)
